Planning board approves Grimesdale/Hickory Hills rezoning

By Nathaniel AxtellTimes-News Staff Writer

Thursday

Oct 18, 2012 at 8:57 PM

At the request of homeowners concerned that townhomes or apartment complexes might spring up in their neighborhoods, the Henderson County Planning Board supported rezoning the Grimesdale, Hickory Hills and Cannon Woods subdivisions from R1 zoning to R2 Thursday.

At the request of homeowners concerned that townhomes or apartment complexes might spring up in their neighborhoods, the Henderson County Planning Board supported rezoning the Grimesdale, Hickory Hills and Cannon Woods subdivisions from R1 zoning to R2 Thursday.By a 6-0 vote, the board recommended that the Board of Commissioners approve the rezoning, which was requested by homeowners from the three neighborhoods in August. “It seems like there’s pretty widespread support for the rezoning request,” said Chairman Jonathan Parce.R1 zoning allows for medium- to high-density residential development, with up to 16 dwelling units per acre. That would permit multi-family housing such as townhomes and apartments, which residents fear might be built on vacant lots within their single-family neighborhoods off U.S. Highway 25 North.By contrast, R2 zoning allows for low- to medium-density development, with no more than two dwelling units per acre. Because there is no public sewer in the area, Planner Parker Sloan told the board the zoning change would effectively “eliminate the ability to construct all forms of multi-family residential.”About 35 residents from the three neighborhoods attended the meeting, but only a handful spoke. The majority supported the change, including Jay Rogers, a member of the Hickory Hills Homeowners Association board of directors.Rogers said the requested rezoning would mirror the association’s covenants, which preclude residents from erecting more than one single-family dwelling per lot.“I don’t want to wake up one morning to the sound of a bulldozer taking down my next-door neighbor’s house and trees and having them replaced by an eight-family apartment house,” Rogers said. He praised county planners for acting proactively “before there is yet another devastating issue for Henderson County to struggle with.”Grimesdale resident Belinda Wray told the board she moved into her house on Florida Drive “so I’d have nice, quiet neighbors and be able to enjoy my retirement. Unfortunately, when I bought my home, I did not realize that my next-door neighbors are renters. I’ve had to call the police on these people because they’re noisy; they are foul-languaged people.”“They are in an individual home,” Wray added. “I cannot imagine having multiple family residents next door to me.” She said she’s seen police responding to the nearest apartment complex on Brookside Camp Road numerous times and heard loud music being played there at night.At the board’s request, county planners mailed out a survey in September to 200 residents and property owners, receiving 150 back. Out of those, 139 respondents — 93 percent — were for rezoning the two neighborhoods from R1 to R2, and 138 respondents were against allowing higher-density housing.County Planning Director Anthony Starr said the next step will be asking the Board of Commissioners to set a public hearing. Once that’s done, letters will be sent to all “affected and adjacent property owners” 10 to 25 days before the hearing and signs will be posted around the area to be rezoned. Commissioners will likely take up the rezoning in December or January, he said.Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.

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